Potential-starter.



A. lr LOGUS. POTENHM.I STARTER. AvPuuATloN men man. w12,

A. J. LOGUIN. POTENUAL STARTER. lemon mi@ Mmm. wia.

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lntlonted May 30, 1,916.

Mme/www i out danger to the switch parts,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

ALEXANDER J. LOGUIN, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, ASSIG'NOB BY.MESNE ASSXGNMENTS,T( ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTUEIN G COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

POTENTIAL-STARTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30,191.6,

To all fwm it may concern Be it known that I, ALEXANDER J. Locom, asubject of the Czar of Russia, residing at Norwood, in the county ofHamilton and State of 'Ohio, have invented certain new and' usefulImprovements in Potential- Starters, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to potential starters and particularly to'potential starters having means responsive to abnormal circuitconflitions with time element attachments. i

I n the operation of potential starters, it is desirable that suchstarters be moved into o'll" position when in running position in`respense to abnormal circuit conditions. Such potential starters can bemoved backward from starting position to off position withbnt to avoidinjury `to theswitch parts it is necessary that `the starter or Yswitchwhen in running position bemoved forward to oil' position.

`In potential starters thus far manufactured the movable switch memberhas been thrown into olf position upon the occurrence of abnormalcircuit conditions without respect to the time'that such abnormalcircuit conditions have existed. This means that in potential startersthus far used it been necessary to again actuate the `potential starterthrough its starting and into its running position after the occurrenceof every abnormal'circuit condition. l

It is therefore the object of my invention to improve potential startersand switches by providing them with an arrangement to prevent theopening of such starters or switches upon the occurrence of low ornovoltage circuit conditions until or unless said abnormal circuitconditions have existedffor a predetermined time.

T he various novel features of my invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and will beparticularly set forth in theappended claims.

The invention is illustrated on the accompanyingr sheets of drawings, inwhich .Figure l is an end elevation of a potential starter embodying myinvention', one end of the tank being broken away for the sake ofclearness, and the switch being in running position; Fig. 2 is a similarview, the switch being in oil" position; Fig.' 3 is a fragmenta'ryelevationfsimilar to that shown in Figs.

-1 and 2 with the parts shown in an `intermediate position; and, Fig. 4is a sectional view, some of the parts being shown in elevation, of thesame potential starter taken along the line f-i of Fig. 1.

The details of the starting controller proper will not be fullydescribed herein because they form no part of my present invention andare unnecessary to an understanding thereof.

The normal operation of the potential Starter is substantially in thesame direction, a movement through 180o forming a complete operation.The controller drum 1-0, which is immersed in oil in the tank 11, ismoved by an operating handle 12 through a shaft 13 and gear wheels 14and 15. The two opposite halves of the controller drum are identicalinstructure and each half cooperates in turn with each of two sets ofcontact fingers 16 during successive operations of the controller, thesets of contact fingers being on opposite sides of the drum and arrangedto simultaneously coact with the two halves of the drum respectively.The stationary contacts 16 are mounted on an insulating support 17,which is located in the bottomA of the stationary oil tank 11. Theswitch drum 10 with which these contact fingers cooperate is rotatabl"mounted in bearings 18 formed in the lower part of a large irregularshaped casting 19, which forms a portion of the .cover for the oil tank,the remaining part 20 .of the cover being of sheet metal and securedover the part 19. The shaft 13 upon which the handle and. gear-14 aremounted is s'up ported in` another bearing -portion of the irregularshaped castingr 19.

Mounted uponthe drum shaft 21 is a cam Z2 upon which a roller 25 isadapted to ride.

. The roller is mounted in a casting 26 which is pivotally mounted on arod 27 and which `is provided with a finger '28 adapted to engage a stop29 forming a part of the castiupr 19. Secured to the linger 28 is oneend of a spring 30, the other end of which is secured to a portion 31 ofthe casting 19 by a bolt T his spring 30 presses the roller against thesurface of the cam 22 under all conditions, biasing the movable switchmember or drum to off position. Also secured to the drum shaft Q1. is acatch 33 adapted, when the potential starter is in running position, tobe held by a weighted latch 34 which ispivotally mounted on a rod 35 andwhich is provided with an arm 36. The latch 34 and arm 36 are integrallyformed and connected byA a sleeve 37. By

means of the latch the movable switch member is normally locked inrunning position.

A hammer 38, having a projection 39, and

being pivotally mounted on a rod 40, is adapted to engage the arm 36 todisengage catch 33 and latch 34 to permit the spring 30 to throw thestarter into oil` position. After striking the arm 36 vthe hammer 38engages and rests on a padded stop 23. This hammer 38 forms the armatureof a low or novoltage magnet having a core 41, forming a part of thecasting 19, and a coil 42. The hammer 38 is moved into engagement withthe c `re 41 by one of the rollers 61 being force against the top of thehammer proing under its own weight and about its pivotal point 4() themovement of the armature 38 is retarded by a time element arrange-`ment. To' effect this retarding movement of the armature 38, saidarmature is provided with a latch member, preferably formed integrallywith the armature 38 and having two projections 44 and 45 which areadapted to engage, under different circuit' conditions and at differenttimes, a lever 46 pvotally mounted at 47 in the irregular shaped casting19. The lever 46 is provided with a projection 48 normally in engagementwithI the projection 44 of latch member 43. This lever is also providedwith a detent portion 49 adapted to hold the armature 38 against rapidrotation about its pivotal point 40 until the detent portion of thelever 46 has been rotated out of the path of projection 45 of latch Thelever 46 is normally biased, under the action of a spring 50, to forcethe armature 38.' out of engagement with the magnet core 41 through theagency of projections 44 and 48 of the arma ture 38 and lever 46respectively. 'The lever 46 lalso provided with a lug 51 which pressesagainst the movable spring-pressed member 52 of a dash-pot 53 which actsin opposition to the spring 50. One end of the spring 50 is providedwith a threaded portion 54 whiclris engaged by :i-thumb screw 55 foradjusting the timel element.

Under normal operating conditions the armature 38 is held in engagementwith the magnet core 4,1 by the action of current in the magnet coil 42.In this position projection 44 of latch 43 presses against theprojection 48 of lever 46 tending to rotate said lever in a clockwisedirection about its pivotal point 47 against the action of spring 50. Inother words, under normal 4operating conditions, the action of thecurrent in the magnet coil 42 has to overcome the normal tendency of thearmature 38 to fall and also to overcome the action of spring 50. Ifnovoltage or certain low voltage circuit conditions sliould arise themagnet will become denergized to a greater or less extent, and thehammer armature, due to its own. weight, has a tendency to rapidlyrotate about its pivotal point 40 to trip the latch 34. But the armature38 is prevented from rotating rapidly due to the fact -that theprojection 45 of latch 43 comes into engagement"v with the detent 49 oflever 46. The spring 50- at this time becomes 'effective in rotating thelever 46 in a counter-clockwise direction about its pivotal point .47 togradually draw the detent in a manner to permit the rojection 45 toescape said detent 49. I how-4 ever, within a certain predetermined timethe circuit condition should return to normal, the armature 38 would bedrawn back to the core 41 by the actim of the current. in

K the magnet coil, forcing the lever46 back into its normal position.But if Suchvab normal circuit conditions should continue longer thansaid certain predetermined time the lever 46 would be slowly'rotated bythe Aspring 50 against the action of the dash-pot 53, to remove thedetent 49 from the path of the projection 45 of the latch 43. At theinstant that the detent 49 is completely removed from the path of saidprojection 45,-

the armature 38 falls into engagement with the arm 36, as shown in Fig.2, to trip` latch 34, permitting the switch drum 10 to move 30. Whenrthe lever 46 is rotated in a coun terclockwise direction the air in thedashpot 53 is compressed by theslow upward movement of the piston 52.The piston 52 is provided with a valve 63 for. permittin a time elementmay ,be made any desirable value by adjusting nut 55 to vary the effectof spring 50. In addition to being automatically tripped, the movableswitch member may be tripped manually by pressing the hand lever. 64which is connected to the latch 34. While this time element arrangementis particularly adapted for use inconnecti .i with potential starters itcan be useu in connection with switches of all types which are,responsive to low or no-voltage circuit conditions.-

There may be various modiiications and larrangements -other than thathere shown and described, and it is my intention to 'cover all suchmodification and arrange to ofi' position under the influence of springcomparatively rapid return movement. .i he

ments which'do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of myinvention as set forth in the appended claims.

I/Vhat I claim as new is:

1. In a potential starter, the combination of a movable switch member,means for holding said switch member against movement when in a certainposition, means including a latch member and being responsive tono-voltage circuit conditions adapted to render said holding meansineffective, and means for retarding effective action of said lastmentioned means, said retarding means including a member coperating withsaid latch member and adapted'to prevent etlective movement of saidlatch means until the no-voltage circuit conditions have existed apredetermined time.

2. In a otential starter, the combination of a mova le switch memberbiased to oil position when in closed position, means for ,holding saidmovable switch member in closed position, means including a latch memberresponsive to low voltage circuit conditions adapted' to render saidholding -means ineffective, and means for retarding effective action ofsaid last mentioned means, said retarding means including a pivotallymounted-f I'nember coperating with' said latch member and adapted toprevent effective movement of said latch means until the low voltagecircuit conditions have existed a predetermined time.

3. In a potential starter. the combination of a movable switch memberbiased to a certain iosition, means for normally retaining sai memberagainst movement to said position, and means responsive to abnormalcircuit conditions for rendering said retain-1 ing means ineffectiveafter said abnormal conditions have existed for a predetermined time,said means responsive to abnormal conditions comprising a membercoperative with said retaining means to actuate the latter and Ihaving alatch portion, a member having a detent portion cooperative with saidlatch portion, and a device for retardin effective movement of saidlatter mem er.

4. In a potential starter, the combination of a.movable switch member.means for holding said switch'member in a certain po- Siti0n,'ylneansincluding a member having a latch portion and being responsive tolow voltage circuit conditions for rendering said holding meansineffective. and means including a pivotally mounted detentnicmbercoperating with said latch portion for retardi'ng` effectiveaction of the means for rendering the holding means inefi'cctive.

5. In a controller, the combination ot' a movable switch member, meansfor biasing said switch member to one position, a latch for retainingsaid switch member against movement t0 said position, means for trippingsaid latch com rising a member movable in response to a )normal circuitconditions, and means Vfor retarding eifertivc action of said lattermember, said rctarding means comprising a bitching 1. vice for saidmember and a time element mechanism for gradually rclef ing saidlatching device to permit cil'cc'tive movement of said member.

6, In a controller, the combination el' a 75 movable switch member,means for biasing,r said switch member to one position, means forholding said switch member` against movement to said position.lineaire--y responsive to novoltage circuit conditions se including apivotaliy mounted latchmi-inber for rendering said holding meansinelifective, and means ncluding a detem portion associated with saidlatch member for retardingeii'ective action oi said latch mem- 85 bei'.u

7. In a potential starterf the coinbination,=. of a movable switchmember. means if holding said switch member in a cer position, a memberbiased to a position rin which it trips said holding means1 and norrmally held in another position. said member having a latch portion andbeing responsive t0 no-voltage circuit conditions, and means includinga-detcnt portion cooperating with said latch portion for retardingciter-tiva, movement of said biased mendaci' to trib said holding means.i

8. In a potential starter, the combination of a movable switch member. alatch for lo@ holdingr said switch member in a cet-taai op erativeposition, a weighted pivotally mount ed member biased to a rosition innln- ,it renders said latch incficctive and noimalljv held in anotherposition,` iid i'ncmber bav- 10E in@r a latch portion andiwing'responsiie to ilo-voltage circuit conditions. and a retardingde\ice including` a pivotally momtcd detent opcratirelj." associatedwith said weighted member.

il. ln a potential starter. the combina lion of a movable switch member.means tor holding said switch member in a certain operative position.piioallv mounted means respon-,ive to no-wdmge cir-cuit conditions andbiased ic a position to render sai-:l las-t mentioned nir-aziincil 'ive.ind 'll held in ai'ioihcr position aid means i1 ing a latch member ing;two p and nwans inrlndi".; a member haring? a zi projection and it(lett-nt nlapted to la engaged under dinerent circuit condition bydifferent portions of said latch incolla-r. id means acting to retardeffective action of `said pivotall),v mounted means upon the occurenceof no-vffiltagc cirruit atmfliiions.

l0. In a potential starter. the combination of a movable switchnii-saber. means for holdin;r said switch member in a certain position,a member having a `rejection and a 130 latch portion and beingresponsive to novoltage circuit conditions for rendering Snifl holdingmeans ineffective, and means including a member having a projection anda detent end adapted to retain effective action of said member, theprojections norm" '2y engaging each other and the latch and detentportions being adapted to engage eaeh other duringfalmornnll circuitconditions. i

il. In a potential starter, the combination. of a movable switch member,means for nolding'said switch member in a certain position, anelectromagnet provided with nn armature member having a projection and alatch and heing responsive to no-voltage circuit conditions to rendersaid holding rmeans ineffective, and means normally 0pposingr saidarmature member through said projection and under no-voltage conditions20 ALEXANDER J. LOGUIN.

'itnesses:

W. STEEN, C. B. TA non, Jr.

